Israeli and Palestinian civil society leaders join in Peace Draft by Greg Myre The New York Times 2:04pm 14th Oct, 2003   (Published October 14, 2003 by the New York Times)    JERUSALEM, Oct. 13 — A group of prominent Israeli and Palestinian politicians, working outside official channels, have written a symbolic peace agreement that they hope could be a foundation for future negotiations.    The announcement came with the Palestinian leadership engaged in a political crisis that pits Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, against his newly installed prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, over who will be the Palestinian security chief. While some Palestinian officials said on Monday that no official action had been taken, The Associated Press reported, quoting an unnamed official, that Mr. Arafat had already decided to name his choice, Hakam Balawi, to the position.    The 50-page draft peace agreement was completed over the weekend in neighboring Jordan by the two delegations, which included current legislators and former cabinet members on both sides.    The proposal offers highly specific solutions and calls for major compromises on the most sensitive issues that have torpedoed previous peace efforts, ranging from the status of Palestinian refugees to Israeli settlements.    The right-wing Israeli government immediately denounced the proposal, calling it irresponsible, freelance diplomacy.    "The public rejected these same political figures," Limor Livnat, Israel's education minister, said of the Israeli delegation. The Palestinian Authority did not immediately comment.    The proposal, dubbed the Geneva Accords, will be formally signed at a ceremony planned for next month in that Swiss city.    The Israeli delegation was led by Yossi Beilin, a former justice minister. The most prominent Palestinian was Yasir Abed Rabbo, a former information minister.    Under the proposal, a Palestinian state would be created that would include the entire Gaza Strip and almost all of the West Bank. The capital would be in the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.    The plan identifies about 20 of the larger Israeli settlements among the 140 in the West Bank that Israel would keep, and Israel would give the Palestinians land in southern Israel in compensation.    On another delicate issue, the plan calls for the Palestinians to have ultimate control over Jerusalem's most important and contested holy site, the mosque compound in East Jerusalem, called the Noble Sanctuary by Muslims. Israel would relinquish its claim of sovereignty over the site, which Jews call the Temple Mount. Israel would keep full control of the Western Wall, the Jewish place of prayer that borders the compound.    On another complicated question, Palestinian refugees from the Arab-Israeli war in 1948 and their descendants would be allowed to live in a future Palestinian state, move to a third country or receive compensation for their losses. But they could not return to their old land inside Israel without Israeli consent, according to the plan. Visit the related web page
	Next (more recent) news item
	Next (older) news item